Saturday, October 31, 2015

Divine Appointment

Last night, I went to dinner with my son and his family. He picked a REALLY good barbeque restaurant near his home, and we got a waitress named Savanna to serve us. I asked how we could pray for her and she immediately squatted down and told me about her brother Sean, who had done 2 tours as a Marine Sniper in Afghanistan and was shot in the stomach. He recovered from the wound but was given a medical discharge as he was unable to continue as a combat Marine. He was offered a desk job, but Sean desperately wanted to be back in Afghanistan with his brothers in arms. So Sean declined the position and has been suffering from PTSD and began drinking. He is 30 years old and struggling. We agreed to pray for him, After praying, the thought popped into my heard that I should connect my good friend Charlie (Retired First Sgt from the Corps) and Sean. I was convinced that Charlie could help him, even if it was just via telephone. Charlie agreed to speak with him. I got Sean’s number from Savannah, and gave her a Gospel of John with a nice note written in the front. And it just so happened ☺ that I also had a Camo covered Gospel of John with me. I wrote a note to Sean telling him I’d be praying for him and gave him Charlie’s info so they could connect. Pray that the Lord will use Charlie to help this young Marine find eternal peace with a new relationship with Jesus Christ, and that his life will get on track.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Divine Appointment

I have been trying to sell 2 Harley-Davidson saddlebag liners on Craig’s List, and I received a call from a man named Dan, who lives about 20 miles east of me. We scheduled a time for him to come and look at the saddlebag liners. When he arrived, we had a long conversation about my Indian and he showed me photos of the Harley he had customized. In the course of conversation, I found out that he knows my son-in-law’s Dad (Paul) very well, and in fact, my son-in-law, granddaughter and Paul have hunted behind Dan’s Uncle Dave’s property for many years. In fact, I even went with my son-in-law to help him build a blind in the woods behind Dave’s place several years ago. As the conversation continued, Dan put 2 and 2 together and said that his daughter Taylor and my granddaughter Maya were best friends several years ago. As it turns out, I know his daughter Taylor! So we reminisced about things they had done together, and I had the opportunity to share Christ with Dan. I gave him a Gospel of John to take home and read and he agreed to do that. I pray the Lord will use our time together and the truth of His Word to save Dan and his family. Small world, huh?

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

How the Lord Used us in October 2015

Hello Brothers and Sisters in Christ!

God continues to bless and use our ministry to impact His Kingdom, and we are so blessed to be a small part of His eternal plan. We had one postponement of a MAD Live Event that was scheduled for this month, but we were able to complete the other 6 events that were on the calendar. We praise God that 11 people gave their lives to Christ at this month’s events, out of a total of 307 people who attended. We also attended the Pillar College sponsored “Pastor’s Appreciation Luncheon” in Newark, NJ, where Dr. Robert Jeffress addressed the gathering. I had the opportunity to share a 2 minute “sales pitch” on the MAD Live Event with 100+ Pastors in attendance. These are the people that I rarely can get on the phone or to respond to an email. So it was a blessing to actually be in front of them to share what we do and how God is using it to further His Kingdom. I also brought Pastor Ron (Chairman of the Board of our ministry) so he could speak with fellow Pastors about how the Lord used the MAD Live Event to change his life. Lord willing, this time investment will open doors for bookings in more churches. On a different note, here’s a funny story for you…we were at a break in a MAD Live Event, and the Pastor told me that some of his people had come up to him at the break and told him that he should have warned them to come to the MAD Live Event with steel toe shoes. Apparently some toes were being stepped on. ☺

Here are some testimonies that I received this past month:

“Our oldest daughter, Olivia 14, and I had attended one of your "M.A.D." training classes sometime last winter. That next Monday Olivia was armed with a copy of the Gospel of John from PTL. She wrote a little note on the front cover, like Don had instructed us, and handed it to her bus driver. Well at the start of this year’s school year Olivia's bus driver informed her that he had made a profession of faith in Christ Jesus. As her father I would like to say ‘thank you’! Keep fighting a good fight and always remember that God's word NEVER returns itself void. God bless and keep the both of you safe!”

“Don, I'm glad you made the connection. I was so blessed by your seminar, I would and I will recommend it to anyone. I'm already opening my mouth more often. God sent me a young man tonight who was canvassing my house for a home improvement project. When I asked him where he would spend eternity if he died suddenly today, he had virtually no answer. He had no church background whatsoever. When I quoted John 3:16 he listened intently. Anyway, I gave him a Bible and we are going to meet again when he brings back some info on the home improvement. I would not have done this without attending your seminar, so thank you very much.”

2016 ULTIMATE ADVENTURE TRIP TO UTAH

It is time for us to make reservations for lodging for our 2016 Ultimate Adventure trip to Utah. No experience necessary. A short video is on my website if you’d like to check out what we’ll be doing. It is difficult to make lodging decisions when we don’t know how many people are coming and what the mix is: how many couples, how many individual men, individual women, family members etc…and believe it or not, the lodging fills up well in advance. If you have interest in coming, I NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU NOW. Please contact me if interested.

Q4 ’15 SCHEDULE

• Nov 1 - Teach combined adult and teen Sunday school classes at Winfree Baptist Church in Midlothian, VA - topic is evangelism

• Nov 4 - Speak at the Lehigh Valley “PPPP” (Pizza, Pepsi, Pastors, Prayer) Monthly gathering

• Nov 7 - MAD Live Event - Murrysville Bible Church, Murrysville, PA

• Nov 8 - MAD Live Event - Life House Church, Carlisle, PA

• Nov 14 - MAD Live Event - Calvary Wesleyan Church, Bethlehem, PA

• Dec 5 - MAD Live Event - Maranatha Family Christian Fellowship, Nazareth, PA

• Dec 6 - Preach at the Alliance Church in Port Allegany, PA

• Dec 12 - Annual Board Meeting of Don Sunshine Ministries

PRAYER REQUESTS

• We are now working on our 2016 calendar and we face the same challenges as always. Please pray for our calendar to fill. Your help with contacts and prayers for next year are truly appreciated!

• For God to us the Mars Hill Radio Network to open many doors of ministry for us

• For the contacts we made at the Pillar College Pastor event to result in bookings to teach

• We ask for continued prayers for good health and safety as we travel and minister, and that hearts will be open to the Holy Spirit’s moving.

Love in Christ,

Cathy and Don

Sunday, October 25, 2015

2 More MAD Live Events completed...more souls added to the Kingdom!

We completed a wonderful weekend of ministry in PA and NY. On Saturday we were in East Smethport, PA doing a MAD Live Event for a small group there. I then traveled to Afton, NY and did another MAD Live Event for over a hundred people at the First Baptist Church. What a great group of people! I was so blessed! We praise the Lord for 7 new followers of Jesus Christ! All glory and honor to Him!!

Saturday, October 17, 2015

MAD Live Event today on Schooley's Mountain, NJ

MAD Live Event #444 is in the books. I was back at our old stomping grounds in Morris County, NJ. We had 80 people attend the event and 2 people gave their lives to Christ! PTL!! I was busy at every break with people asking questions and having discussions. It was a fun group to be with!

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Divine Appointment today

A local school district called and asked me to drive this Thursday and Friday mornings for a driver taking a couple of days off. So I would know the route, I was asked to ride with the driver this morning. His name is Steve. As I began the route, I quickly realized that I had already filled in on this route last month. Between runs, Steve would park at a local grocery store parking lot and chat with another driver. In the course of conversation, they asked why I don’t drive mornings and afternoons and I told them that I have a ministry and have to work on that most of the day. They asked what I did and I explained what I teach. We then completed the second part of the run and as we were returning to the transportation garage, I asked him fi he went to church. He said he had been going to the church in Hamburg all of his life and sang in the choir. I asked if his church preached on the plan of salvation. He said, “I don’t know.” Hmmm….I asked if he was born again and he didn’t know. I explained the Gospel to him and asked if I could give him something to read. I gave him two copies of “One Second After You Die” and asked if he would read it and give the other one to his friend when they meet at the grocery store. He agreed.

Had the Transportation Coordinator remembered that I had already done that route, I wouldn’t have had to come in today and I wouldn’t have even met Steve and the other bus driver. Praise the Lord for His sovereignty and for this Divine appointment today. I am adding both drivers to my daily prayer list for salvation.

MAD in NJ

October 1st marked the beginning of our 8th year as a full time ministry for Christ. PTL! We started the month with a MAD Live Event in Pensville, NJ today. 37 people attended and there appears to be some good prospects for additional live events from the contacts the folks there have. Thanks to Pastor Taylor for allowing me the privilege of coming to share with his flock.

Next weekend, we'll be back in NJ in West Long Branch for a MAD Live Event on the 10th.